To Far To Fall
by Elenhin
Summary: A desperate rush for James to try and see Alec after he has seen him fall, to far down for James to think it could have anything but a fatal outcome.


Author's note: This is a one-shot I wrote to explore the relationship between Alec and James. I am currently posting a longer story featuring the two of them as well, and this is partly to explore their different backgrounds first.

Very big thanks goes to Earendil Eldar for beta work.

Disclaimer: I do not own James Bond, Alec Trevelyan or any other James Bond related item or person. I have only borrowed the characters and will return them. Not even making any serious attempt at kidnapping Alec, and as I have gotten some special glue form Q, he shall appear utterly unharmed.

**For Iolana who asked me about the time before the movie when Alec fell, here is that, the car that James crashed that is also mentioned a few times, and something else that seems to make a regular appearance.**

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_**To Far To Fall**_

"_It is the easy ones that are the hardest, James." Alec said thoughtfully._

"_What makes you say that?" James asked. This was the point in the conversation when he usually wondered how much Alec had had to drink, and if it was not just a little too much. _

_He did not for two reasons. One of them was that neither of them had had anything at all to drink, and it sort of ruled out the option that Alec was drunk. The second was that he actually was getting used to hear Alec talk like this, and it never seemed to have anything to do with Alcohol. It was just the way Alec was. _

_James had been telling him how they had an easy mission coming up, really easy. _

"_It's simple." Alec twirled a pen between his fingers. "Take a tough mission, one of the hardest, something goes wrong and you don't really notice. But take a really easy one, stroll in the park. If something goes wrong then, you have one hell of a hard time. With the tough ones, at least you know what to expect. "He looked at James to see if he agreed._

_James smiled and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Have you heard about something called optimistic thinking?" He laughed. "This is so easy it counts as vacation. Really easy one."_

Damn Alec, James though, he just had to be right.

The mission had been simple enough, right up to the point when everything went wrong. When had it turned into a shooting matter, he wondered? When had he and Alec gotten separated? They would have to have been, because right at the moment he was struggling to make his way back to Alec. Dodging bullets every step of the way, and Alec was in just as much trouble himself.

He was above James, far above. Almost sixty feet or so, on a rusty catwalk that creaked and screeched with his every move. A damn bad place to be, James thought. He had been trying to find a way out for them, and now he was in a damn bad spot. He could wind up shot to pieces there.

James cursed again, wondering how he intended to get out of there. James was laying a covering fire for him, it was all he could do. This far no one had braved his bullets long enough to take a good aim on Alec.

The younger man was slowly making his way to safety, and James was beginning to think that he was going to make it when he was just a few yards away from relative safety.

He heaved a sigh of relief, only to see how one man stood and fired.

It only took one man and one bullet. The force of it slammed Alec against the catwalks guardrail. The creaking metal could not support his weight, and with an ear piercing sound of tearing metal, Alec fell.

The fact that there was an actual thud when he landed made James feel sick.

Alec didn't even try to get up, he just twisted with a groan.

"Alec!" James shouted, running towards him. "Can you get up Alec, we've got to move."

Alec groaned again as James came over, James hauled him up by a firm grip. Slinging his arm over his own shoulders, and dragging him as much as carrying him. Alec was beyond helping very much. So James was supporting almost all his weight, and it was not easy. It was even harder when he had to return fire to at least some extent.

"Come on Alec, you gotta help me out here." He muttered as he struggled to move fast enough.

Alec gave a moan of pain, but he was not able to do much else.

Slipping into a spot of cover James dropped him to the ground, searching him over. One bullet wound, low on the shoulder, and he was bleeding badly. He frowned, thinking that if he did nothing Alec would bleed to death, but what could he do. He took his handkerchief and balled it up. Stuffing it down Alec's collar, down onto the bullet wound hoping it would impede the blood flow. It was really all he could do.

At the moment Alec was semi-conscious. He was not out cold, but he was not really aware of anything happening around him either. The only response James got out of was moaning and fluttering eye lids.

Cursing James looked up, trying to find a way out of there, any way out of there. Then he could have laughed with joy, their car.

Not far from where they were, the car he and Alec had come in stood parked.

Apparently they were trying to figure out how to work the vehicle. Not an easy task unless you knew Q, then it was quite a lethal work. The question was how he was supposed to get Alec there, and get his hands on the wheel before they figured out who he was. Not to mention that it had to be done before the other guy figured out where he had hidden himself.

As one of the mechanics got to close to his hiding spot, he improvised. Knocking him out and stealing the jumpsuit. Then he dragged Alec towards the car. Trying to make it look as if Alec was just a little more coherent than he really was.

"This one will show us how it works." He declared, roughly shoving Alec against the side of the car, wincing with sympathy as Alec groaned. He threw him into the passenger seat and Alec groaned something as James moved around.

"Will he do it, or will he trick us?" A mechanic who had only just recently seen what the car could do if you were not careful enough asked.

"He will, or he will die." James assured him. Before they knew what was going on he had the engine roaring and left rubber behind on the ground as he took off. It was all too easy for him to dodge the soldiers on foot.

He broke hard to the right, and the car slid along the ground, he stamped down on the accelerator and it shot forward again.

"Wha'yer doing?" Alec suddenly groaned as he was able to determine the fact that he was in the car, and they were going damn fast.

"Trying to get us out of here, alive." James said through clenched teeth.

"Wha' happened?" Was Alec's next question as he looked out the window.

"You got shot, that's what happened." James said, he couldn't spare the concentration it took to explain the details to Alec at the moment.

"Oh." Alec blinked as if he was surprised, that was not good James grimaced. If he didn't even know that he was in trouble, shock could be as dangerous as the wound itself. "Why?" He asked with a groan.

"Because they were shooting at us." They were also chasing them, and so he had to really concentrate on what he was doing.

"Not good, eh?" Alec touched a shaky hand to the damp spot, the one drenched in his blood, and then he frowned at his fingers.

"Not too good." James agreed swearing widely as some shots went a little too close to the car. He was out on a small dirt road now, and he hoped he could get away from his pursuers.

"Where're we going now?" Alec asked still plucking at his uniform where the bullet had torn it. His fingers was shaky and he barely had the strength to grip the torn edge of the fabric.

"Somewhere safe I hope." James used the handbrake to take a sharp turn. "Stop doing that Alec, I'm trying to keep you from bleeding to death here." James was sweating just thinking of how close to actually dying from the wound Alec was.

"Oh, nice view." Alec noted absently as he turned to look out the window, his head lolling to the side as if he did not have the strength to keep it up. "Wha' did ye say was going on?" Alec asked in a slurred voice as he turned back to James.

"Nothing Alec, don't think about it." James tried to keep himself from cursing, wondering if Alec was able to keep track of what was happening for even five seconds. While it wouldn't help if he was panicking, his unawareness of how dire the situation was made James feel like panicking.

He looked at Alec out of the corner of his eye, trying to keep track of the road and his pursuers at the same time. Alec blinked and bit his lower lip.

"Why's it hurt?" He mumbled.

James did curse as he took the car through a one hundred and eighty degree turn, gravel shooting from beneath the tires as a shell shot when the car skidded and the tires spun on the dirt surface of the road. The rear of the car wavered for a moment as it came out of the curve, and he could see in the rear mirror how one following car went straight off the track. To bad a few more of them was still following, even worse that a bullet or two smacked into the car.

James was cursing and sweating while Alec was unfazed by it.

He took the next turn skidding sideways, and then he was able to gain just a little lead on their followers.

Alec was still chewing his lower lip, as if he was trying to figure out why it hurt, and James found he could not tell him once more. Bad enough telling him he had been shot once, bad enough thinking that he would die from the wound, he could not tell Alec that. All the signs pointed to it thought, his inability to comprehend what had happened, Alec was dying, he was sure of it, but he was not giving up on his friend without a fight.

"It won't hurt for long Alec." He assured him through gritted teeth.

"Good, I don't like it." Alec's eyes drifted close.

"I don't either." James murmured, debating what to do. There was a village not far off, he could surely get help there, but how to get there? There was no way to shake his tail fully, but if he could get out of sight of them long enough, maybe he could create a decoy.

Rigging the car to go straight ahead at full speed wasn't to hard, nor did it take much time. Getting Alec to a good hiding spot was a lot harder, but hopefully when they saw the car go off the road, they would think he and Alec was still in it.

He peered out as the explosion near deafened him for a moment, all the pursuing cars skidded to a stop before they approached the same abyss that had been the demise of the first car.

"Ah, liked tha' car." Alec mumbled and James looked at him surprised. It was the first sign that he knew what was happening around him since he had been shot, maybe there was just a little hope then. For the moment he pressed one hand to the bullet wound to try and stop the blood seeping out. Then he held his other hand over Alec's mouth so that he would not say anything more and give their hiding spot away. They were not far away from the village, and his scheme had worked. If he could only get him to the village, then surely he would be able to get Alec back alive.

"Please Alec, just hold on for a little longer." He begged as he bound up the wound better. "Can't lose you after all this trouble. I'll get you back, just think of how mad Moneypenny will be on me, you wouldn't want that to happen would you." He pleaded with his unconscious friend as he began to make his way towards civilization.

* * *

"Please tell me you got food with you." 

"What do you mean Alec?" James grinned as he strolled into the room.

"I mean that I'm hungry." Alec muttered with a half glare.

"Want me to fetch you some soup?" James asked raising his eyebrows and grinning as Alec glared at him. He could not care less about the glare, considering that Alec was alive. No one had really believed he would make it, no one, including James. Every hour he had expected them to tell him that Alec was dead, but he was not. He was a tough little one that lad.

Now he just chuckled as Alec cursed. Trying not to think of how pale he was, how thin and fragile he looked. The bullet had been bad enough, but the fall had done some serious damage to the young agent, and for how long was it now that he had lived on soup?

At first, or after the biggest danger was past, it had been all he could eat. It was only recently he had even been complaining about it.

"Not?" He pretended to look surprised even as he lounged back in the chair. "And here I thought you loved soup." It was a tease, Alec did like soup, normally, but he guessed he was tiring just a little of it.

"I'm bloody hungry." Alec complained, wishing he had the strength and mobility needed to give James a good punch for his insolence. What bastard would mock his friend like that, when he could not even defend himself properly?

Well, he reflected, James was doing it, and with reversed roles, he very well might do it himself. However that would be for payback.

"Sorry." James said with a big grin. "But I got told I weren't allowed to give you anything like that just yet."

"Bloody bastard." Alec cursed. "I'm starving, and you decide to follow the rules all of a sudden."

"There has to be a first time for everything." James grinned. "Really Alec, you usually tell me I should obey the rules, what made you change your mind."

Alec glared at him again. He was not that angry at Bond, in fact he was damned grateful, but he would be damned if he just admitted it.

"And you blew up that car, I liked it." He complained.

James winced, it had been one of Alec's favourites as far as cars where concerned. While he had not thought twice about sacrificing it in a wild ruse to save Alec, he had not really cared for the idea. Q had outdone himself with it, and it had been a damn fine car at that. Alec had been the main driver before it blew, because he liked it, and because he really did have the right touch with it.

James' guess that it was because Q liked Alec so much, somehow he had managed to make it suit Alec, and thus the younger man had really taken a fancy to it.

He knew what his friend was doing thought, and he appreciated it, at the moment he was trying to communicate his gratitude towards the man who had saved him.

"I know, but I didn't, wrong colour." He said with a frown.

Alec pushed himself up to sit just a little straighter. "I've never complained before when you blow something up, but you had to blow that one up?" He complained, his voice sounding every bit as annoyed as he pretended to be, but his eyes told another story.

"I know, I know." James laughed and held up a hand in defeat. "Q's been lecturing me about it already Alec, I'm sorry, but really, the car had to go."

A small nod from Alec, and James smiled.

"You know Alec, while I couldn't get a three course meal past the guards they call nurses here, I was able to get a small treat." He said teasingly, smiling as Alec looked at him with eager eyes. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small square plastic container. "It wasn't easy either, they suspected me, and hardly believed me even thought I assured them I had nothing with me." He grinned and chuckled over the hungry look Alec gave it. One thing was for sure, the lad had not been exaggerating when he said he was hungry. "They near decided on a full body search, and wouldn't that have been unfortunate." He noted as he fingered the lid thoughtfully.

"If you got food, I'd advice you to hand it over, now." Alec's eyes never left the box.

"I'll get it open for you." James offered, he doubted Alec would have much success with the lid at the moment. As soon as it was open he surrendered it. Once Alec got a whiff of the content, it would not be safe to withhold it from him.

"Not a steak, but easier to smuggle in." James grinned as he saw the look on Alec's face. In truth he thought Alec would prefer this to a steak, and so would the medics he supposed. They were well aware of the fact that James would be breaking the rules, and since they had not stopped him, he had a grudgingly given consent to allowing Alec the treat. If not, they would have intercepted it for sure.

Also, if they did not think Alec well enough for more challenging food than soup, a small number of strawberries wasn't likely to do any damage.

He was smiling with delight as he watched the red fruit disappear, leaving no trace behind. Alec made away with them quickly, like a starving man who feared the food would disappear unless he ate it fast enough. Yet he seemed to saviour the taste fully, and he looked far more content afterwards.

James took the empty container and hid the evidence. They had allowed it to pass, but they would not look kindly upon it if it was not conducted discreetly.

"You're forgiven for not bringing food." Alec said, looking quite content for the circumstances. "Not for the car thought."

"We'll take one thing at a time." James said softly.

"Yeah." Alec licked his lips, hoping that there would be a trace left of the delicious fruit he had just eaten. "I'll buy you a pint later to settle that."

James smiled, most having listened would have thought it sounded odd. To make up the loss of a car with a pint, not to mention how it sounded as if Alec would be paying James for having lost it.

He rather thought it sounded confusing, but it was not, not really.

Not if you knew how they would always do that, buy the other a pint for having saved their life, it was a gesture between them. It was not them saying their lives was worth equal to a pint, it was just a way between them to say thanks.

So Alec would buy a pint for James, and James would always hate the memory, but whenever he heard Alec mentioning a certain car, whenever the younger agent complained about how James crashed it, James knew what it meant.

"Sounds nice enough to me." He stood and patted the younger man's shoulder. "Now you rest some, get better, because I intend to hold you to that."

The End.

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This was yet another one shot, and I hope that you all enjoyed it. 


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